


The Restless Goddess

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 07:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15019892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Alonso tries to get the rangers to give Eden a day off. Unfortunately, Eden is too helpful and the rangers are too lazy. Eden belongs to sso-eden-danwnvalley on tumblr.





	The Restless Goddess

Eden had been keeping an eye on this part of Moorland for a while now, taking note of the strange changes that had been happening to the land. At first, she’d assumed that it had to do with the Haflinger foal that had been born here during the search for Starbreeds. Though the foal had been determined by Rhiannon to not be a Starbreed, much to the dismay of everyone involved (and possibly the relief of the mother, who wouldn’t have her foal taken from her for a grander destiny), Eden wouldn’t put it past Dark Core to target the foal that had been of interest to the druids.

But today finally put to rest the mystery of this changing landscape. Eden had noticed the fences as soon as she’d left Moorland stables, where she’d been visiting Thomas to give him an update on his son (Justin was fine, a bit smelly from living with horses, but better than he had been for a while now). Eden clicked Phoenix into a trot as she got closer to the site of so much mystery, the sound of music reaching her ears. Though it didn’t sound like the Little Frog dance, there was definitely something Midsummer-y about it. And there were the Jorvik flags strung up everywhere, and pots of flowers. Eden smiled at the little path edged by solar lamps as she rode Phoenix at a walk along the path. She stopped in front of a woman sitting astride a black mustang and sporting an outfit that Eden knew well by now.

“Hi,” said Eden in greeting to the woman, who looked a little surprised. The woman gave Eden a friendly smile, though.

“Hi, there,” said the woman, straightening up (not that she’d been slouching, but she looked like she’d been there for a while). “I’m Ranger Marisol, and I’m in charge of this year’s Midsummer celebrations. How can I help you?”

“Funny, I was just about to ask you the same thing,” said Eden. “How can I help you? I’m Eden, by the way.”

“Oh, that Eden?” asked Marisol, her eyes widening. “Oh, uh, that’s okay, I’ve got everything under control.”

“Are you sure?” asked Eden, looking around at the empty grounds. “This area looks a little bare. You don’t even have the pole up yet, or the bonfire lit.”

“Yes, Stanislav’s in charge of the pole and Ashley’s in charge of the bonfire,” said Marisol, rubbing the back of her neck. “Only, Ashley is convinced that someone will do something irresponsible with fire if she leaves her station, and Stanislav is… well, he has a wandering eye and there are too many attractive young riders here.”

“Ah,” said Eden. “I understand. I’ll go and help them.”

“If you insist,” said Marisol, her voice a little strained. Eden gave her a strange look but dismounted and walked over to the young man who stood by an area that had been cleared for, presumably, the pole.

“Hi, Stanislav,” said Eden, giving him a friendly smile and wave. “I’m Eden. Marisol said you needed help with the pole?”

“Oh!” said Stanislav, his eyes snapping back to Eden and giving her a quick once-over before he quickly tore his eyes away. “Alonso’s girl, right?” Eden nodded. “Right, no lookie. Um, you don’t need to worry about helping me, I’ve got everything in control here.”

“Sure about that?” asked Eden. “Nothing’s been set up.”

“Well, yeah, it’s taking a little longer than I expected,” said Stanislav. “See, if I move, Dylan’s probably going to put a table where the pole is supposed to go. And I need to have enough room to even haul it up to begin with.”

“Don’t worry, Phoenix can haul it up easy,” said Eden. “He’s a strong boy.” She gestured to her horse, which Stanislav looked at.

“Wow, he does look strong,” said Stanislav. “Alright, I had my eye on a pole over there behind Jasper’s barn.” He pointed. “If you just bring it over here, we can get started on the next step.”

“Will do,” said Eden. She whistled for Phoenix, who trotted over and stood still while she mounted. Carefully, she managed to get the long pole onto his back, balancing it on his hindquarters. It was a very slow and tense walk back over to the pole site, where Stanislav eased the pole onto the ground, resting it on a rock so that it would be easier to haul up.

“Great, that looks wonderful. Now we just need leaves and flowers,” said Stanislav.

“From Silverglade?” asked Eden.

“No, no,” said Stanislav, shaking his head. “No offense to Silverglade, but the leaves and flowers here around Moorland are just as good.”

“I agree,” said Eden, glad that she wouldn’t have to go as far. Phoenix didn’t mind having the leaves and flowers piled onto his rump, probably preferring them to the pole. Unfortunately, as they soon found out, the flowers would be the lightest load on Phoenix all day.

“Now we just need to decorate the pole and make some wreaths,” said Stanislav, already beginning to put the leaves and flowers onto the pole. He wrapped a blue ribbon around it, which Eden thought looked beautiful. This pole was already looking better than the Silverglade one, no offense to Silverglade. Even the wreath-making station was far more organised than just making a wreath in the middle of a field, there were places for the leaves and places for the flowers. Eden even noticed seven empty containers with a map beside them. They must be for flowers, hence the images on the map, but where was the seventh flower? Eden shrugged it off, deciding to think about it for the rest of the day until she figured out what it meant.

Unfortunately, Eden wouldn’t have time to puzzle over this conundrum. As soon as Phoenix had hauled up the pole, which was now nicely decorated, Stanislav set her to work helping to set up the stage. And once that was done, Dylan called her over to help set up the banquet tables.

“Eden, hi! I know you’ve been busting your hump working for Stanislav, that old slave-driver, but could I bother you for a few minutes?” asked Dylan. He seemed young. All of these rangers seemed young. Eden suddenly felt very old and very tired. That seemed to happen a lot when the weight (and fate) of the world was on your shoulders.

“Sure,” said Eden. “That’s me, always willing to lend a hand.” It felt nice to be thanked for her hard work at the end of the day, but honestly, at times like these, Eden wondered if it was really worth it.

“Thanks!” said Dylan, grinning. “I need chairs and tables to start with, Mr Moorland said he’d help with that. They should be down in the stableyard.”

“Yeah, I think I saw those this morning,” said Eden, already mounting Phoenix again. “I’ll go and grab them for you.”

“Thanks! You just have to put them here,” said Dylan, gesturing to the marked-out area on the grass. “Thank you again so much for helping me.”

“No problem,” said Eden, riding back down towards Moorland stables. The boxes looked heavy, but Phoenix managed to carry them quite well. Dylan didn’t help set them up, of course, that was Eden’s job.

“Hopefully you still have energy, because I’ve got another job for you,” said Dylan. “James in Fort Pinta said that I could have some food and the speakers from the disco, could you go and grab them for me?”

“Sure,” said Eden. Phoenix gave her a concerned snuffle, trying to stop her from mounting. Eden frowned at him.

“Phoenix, come on, I’m fine,” said Eden. Phoenix snorted and allowed her to mount, carrying her over to Fort Pinta. These boxes were somehow bigger than the boxes that had held the chairs and tables. Eden stumbled slightly as she lifted them onto Phoenix.

“Don’t forget the speakers too, and be careful with them!” James called as he jogged over. “They were really expensive.”

“Yep, I’ll be careful,” said Eden, hauling the speakers onto Phoenix as well. She probably should have brought a trailer or a cart or something with her, something to make hauling these easier and safer. But at least she’d know for next year, if this was the same next year. A lot of yearly events had been different in Jorvik lately, which was a nice change from the same old, same old, quite honestly.

Eden wobbled slightly when she tried to mount Phoenix again, leaning heavily against him. Phoenix nickered in distress, looking at her with his ears pinned and his eyes wide.

“I’m fine,” said Eden, hauling herself away from him and stumbling back. “Woo, I need a drink, but I don’t want one by stumbling into the fountain.”

“Yeah, a lot of people and animals play in that even though I tell them not to,” James muttered. “But nobody listens to me!”

Eden ignored him as she finally mounted Phoenix and rode carefully back towards the festival site. Thankfully, Dylan helped her to bring down the supplies and set up the speakers.

“Sweet!” Dylan crowed. “Thanks for all your help, Eden, you’re a legend.”

“Mm-hm,” Eden murmured as she finally flopped into a chair, picking up a bottle of orange soda. The cool, bubbly drink was so refreshing. Ashley looked like she needed help, but… Eden really needed a rest. Maybe she could sneak into the Midsummer Night’s Dream tent, sneak a nap in there. She considered napping in the fishing game tent, but she could already hear snores emanating from inside there. Best not disturb the sleeper in there.

There was a sign pinned to the flap of the tent.

“Stop! Before entering, you need to gather seven flowers. But not to worry- they’re all scattered around the festival site somewhere, so you’ll see your true love soon.”

“Well, this is familiar,” Eden murmured, turning and beginning to look for flowers. Maybe it was because she was so tired, but suddenly, some of the flowers seemed to glow. Just as the five leaf clovers had back when she’d helped Ydris set up the tent the first time so long ago, before he’d redecorated.

Once the seven flowers were collected, Eden returned to the tent, stumbling past the entrance flap and dropping the flowers onto the ground. Just as she’d hoped, it was so nice and dark in here, a cool respite from the relentless summer heat. Eden lay back on the cool, green grass and slept. She didn’t know if she’d dream of her true love or not, but she really didn’t care. She just needed a nap.

When Eden woke, her first thought was that the Midsummer Night’s Dream magic had worked again. But then she realised that Alonso’s face was peering down at her in worried curiosity.

“Eden?” said Alonso. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” said Eden, smiling up at him. “I just needed to pass out for a while, but now I can get back to work.”

“Work?” Alonso repeated, sounding incredulous. “No, no! They were supposed to do everything themselves so you wouldn’t have to work!” He growled, a very out-of-character sound for him. “They’ll be getting such a talking-to when we get back to the ranger station, you mark my words.” And there was the Alonso she knew and loved.

“I told you, it’s fine,” said Eden, sitting up. Her head didn’t spin, which was a good sign. “I’m fine.”

“Look, let’s just go and sit by the bonfire and rest, okay?” said Alonso.

“Is it going yet? I was going to help Ashley with that,” said Eden, letting Alonso help her to her feet.

“It’s funny, the second I arrived here on Mardy, she lit that bonfire like nobody’s business,” said Alonso with a chuckle. Eden smiled.

“Caught being idle,” said Eden. When they stepped out of the tent, Eden could see the bonfire blazing merrily.

“You’ve done a good job, Marisol,” said Alonso, walking over to the ranger while holding Eden’s hand.

“Thanks, Alonso,” said Marisol with a grin. But it faded when she saw the frown on Alonso’s face. “Oh dear.”

“Today was supposed to be a relaxed day for my girlfriend, Marisol,” said Alonso. “Now, as it turns out, the only thing you haven’t roped her into doing, aside from lighting the bonfire, is putting the flag on the pole.”

“I’ll-“ Eden started, but before she could finish, Marisol dismounted her horse, the Jorvik flag in hand, and climbed up the Midsummer pole like a monkey. Once the flag was hung, she slid back down to the ground. All eyes were on her anyway, so she smiled.

“I now declare the Midsummer festival opened!” Marisol declared, clapping her hands together.

“Perfect,” said Alonso, wrapping an arm around Eden. “Now we can go and relax by the bonfire.” Eden smiled up at him as they walked over there, taking a seat on one of the logs that had been set up as seats around the fire.

“You were really trying to give me a break?” asked Eden, looking up at him from where she’d snuggled up into his side.

“Yeah,” said Alonso, nodding. “After you told me about how you did most of the work at the festival in the past few years, I was completely flabbergasted. You already do so much, you shouldn’t have to also set up the festival.”

“Marisol did try to tell me to just enjoy the festival,” said Eden. “I was the one who insisted on helping.”

“I know, your generosity is one of the things that I love about you,” said Alonso, pressing a kiss to her temple. “But you’re only human.” Eden snorted. “I mean it, Eden! Working yourself to exhaustion doesn’t help anyone, it only makes me worry.”

“I’m sorry,” said Eden, wrapping her arm around Alonso. “I just can’t help myself sometimes.”

“It’s okay,” said Alonso, looking her in the eyes. “Just take a break every now and then, okay? The world won’t end if you decide to take a day off.” Eden laughed, but she wasn’t going to share the joke. He wouldn’t get it.

Eden must have slept for a while in that tent, because it didn’t take long for the stars to come out. Sitting here, with the love of her life cuddled up beside her, Eden began to feel hope for the first time in a while. Maybe… maybe it would be okay if she decided to take a break. Just for a little while. Maybe even long enough to have fun.


End file.
